Japanese games take voyeurism to new levels

Sylvie Barak, 4th February 2010

When it comes to video game voyeurism and risqué gameplay, the Japanese sure know how to roll.

Kotaku brings us news of two new Japanese games on the market, featuring an abundance of anime ass parading about in underwear and little thongs for that extra added gaming value.

And if you're a randy Japanese teenager, you're in luck, because the role playing, lingerie-fest of a game, Ar Tonelico III, has a rating of CERO C -meaning it's available to be ogled by anyone aged 15 and above.

That's despite virtually being able to, er, virtually see the main heroine naked, as well as getting several glimpses of her unmentionables. Not that we at TG Daily are prudes, of course. We're all for a bit of teenage sex-ed, even if it does happen to come in a profoundly stereotyped, sexist way.

Americans, however, are well known for being that much more uptight about these things than their Japanese counterparts, and thus the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) had a heck of a time reviewing another Japanese title, Dead or Alive: Paradise.

Now, we haven't actually had the pleasure of playing the intriguingly named game, but the description put out by the ESRB certainly piqued our interest.

Apparently, the point of the game is for users to "watch grown women dressed in G-string bikinis jiggle their breasts while on a two-week vacation." So far, so awesome.

ESRB goes on to say that the "Women's breasts and butts will sway while playing volleyball, while hopping across cushions, while pole dancing, while posing on the ground, by the pool, on the beach, in front of the camera."

Well, they sound like a frolicking, fun bunch of females, we must admit.

But if you're wondering what else you can do in the game, lest you get bored of all that boob and butt jiggling, not to fear, for ESRB claims users can also "gamble inside a casino to win credits for shopping; they can purchase bathing suits, sunglasses, hats, clothing at an island shop."

But that's not all, oh no. The women can also "gift these items to eight other women in hopes of winning their friendship, in hopes of playing more volleyball. And as relationships blossom from the gift-giving and volleyball, users may get closer to the women, having earned their trust and confidence." We think we know what happens next. Right?

Right, says ESRB.

"As relationships blossom from the gift-giving and volleyball, users may get closer to the women, having earned their trust and confidence: users will then be prompted to zoom-in on their friends' nearly-naked bodies, snap dozens of photos, and view them in the hotel later that night." So, er, we get the whole "paradise" concept, but where does the whole "dead or alive" thing come into it? ESRB doesn't say.

What it does say, however, is that "Parents and consumers should know that the game contains a fair amount of 'cheesy,' and at times, creepy voyeurism-especially when users have complete rotate-pan-zoom control."

And ESRB goes on to note that the game does also contain "bizarre, misguided notions of what women really want (if given two weeks, paid vacation, island resort)." Namely, that "paradise cannot mean straddling felled tree trunks in dental-floss thongs."

How wrong you are, ESRB, how wrong you are.

Unfortunately for America's youth, however, the organization has opted to give the game a rating of "M" for mature.